In Hollywood Hearts
by DazingDreamer
Summary: Alice Liddell is the darling new starlet, thrust into the spotlight after a mega-hit movie. Starring in another major film, she meets the most eccentric group of actors. Who's who and what's what in this Hollywood version of Wonderland?
1. Hello Hollywood

**Was daydreaming one day, and thought, "I wonder how the HnKnA characters would act if they were in Hollywood?" I mean, Wonderland is just a crazy version of Hollywood. Especially filled with ridiculously good-looking people.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Newcomer gets Brain Freeze!<strong>

A blond girl wearing a baby blue blazer, light yellow tee shirt and white shorts was strolling down the sidewalk of Fourth Avenue.

She still couldn't believe that she was there; it was too surreal. This was _the _street to be on, where celebrities (and/or just plain rich) held their credit cards and tiny pooches to shop, while tourists came to ogle and snap pictures of their favorite star. Looking at all the clothes that she can actually afford seemed pretty bizarre to the girl.

Actually, the fact that she was even in this shining city was amazing enough.

She paused in front of a store's window and peered at the giant poster of a movie plastered onto it, along with a couple of other strangers.

On it was a scene from the movie, with a brunette guy who was was about to jump off an exploding building, with lightning coming out of his hands. Below, there was a fair-headed female, driving a red motorcycle and holding a glowing rope from the buliding. It read: "Soft As Thunder: Where Dreams Meet Reality." Underneath were the names "Chadwick Brice and Alice Liddell" in smaller but just as bold letters.

The shopkeeper came outside, noticing that a crowd of people gathering outside his store.

Grinning, he held out his hands and said, "Do you guys like this? I had it ordered specially to cover this window. It's just an amazing story! With the hottest on-screen couple of the year, it's guaranteed garner me even more publicity than it already has!

Alice felt even more people stopping to look. She tried to scoot out of the way, but the people didn't notice and blocked her path out.

She held her giant sunglasses firmly onto her face, hoping no one would actually see her and recognize her as the same girl in the poster. She was glad her long hair was covering most of her face too. As she tried to shrink down, she heard the conversations around her.

"Did you know that it's the best selling movie in 10 years?"

"I know! And Chad is so handsome, he almost burns my eyes!"

"I thought that Alice girl wouldn't compare to Brice. He's been one of the best for a few years now."

"Alice really surprised me. It's like she came out of nowhere!"

"Who knew such great acting would come from a newcomer like her?"

"I heard she's making millions off of this movie. And producers can't stop wanting a bite out of her!"

Hiding a smile, Alice thought back to the last year of her life.

She had been approached by a crazy-looking woman with a purple polka dot hat outside a coffee shop. The lady had asked her if Alice had acting aspirations, since she saw her inside the coffee house, goofing off with her friends and acting out a scene from one of the few movies she's actually watched and liked. The blond was shocked, but accepted the business card the lady handed her, saying that she would have to talk to her family first.

To her amazement, her elder sister Lorena was ecstatic and encouraged her to take the opportunity. The next moment she blinked, she found herself hired in Hollywood, at an agency well known for launching careers of the hottest movie stars.

With her raw talent, she was quickly snatched up by a director who had been looking for outsider who has never been in the business, but had that certain something. Was it determination? Honesty? Stubbornness? He didn't know, but he knew that he found it in that girl.

A film script had come to his attention and he knew it fit her and another actor he had in mind. It took some coaxing, but then he had the two perfect stars for his new film. The cast spent weeks in their trailers, rehearsing and then filming.

It took them almost 3 months to get everything filmed. During the filming, she got to meet a ton of new people and learn the ropes of being famous. Chadwick and Alice had gotten pretty chummy, but it never exceeded beyond friends (even with the romance scenes). Both had their own significant other. When it was finally done, she was excited to able to go home and reunite with her family and her boyfriend. But she got a unpleasant surprise when she arrived back-

Alice shook her head. She wouldn't remind herself of what happened. No, not ever again. That's why she decided to come back to Hollywood. She just needed to get away from all the reminders of that. She wouldn't get hurt like that again. So she wanted to start anew. And here, there was something she learned.

This world was honestly unlike any other.

At last, she found an opening and escaped from the crowd of people. Normally, she wouldn't have minded if someone recognized her and asked for an autograph (she's been practicing), but today, she wanted some peace and quiet. With a sigh, she walked somewhere else that had less visitors.

From the opposite side of the street, there was a blue sports car with tinted windows. In it, was a man with straight black hair that spiked out at the edges, wearing a white suit and a black vest, the card symbols decorating the sleeves of his jacket. His piercing blue eyes stared at the gigantic poster. The man heard the rumors of course. That the outsider called Alice was quickly rising in fame.

_She's only been in one movie! Big deal. She got a lucky break for this one. I hear that there are contracts that are just waiting for her to sign, makeup, perfume, whatever. She'll learn that she won't fit in at all._

He smirked and drove away. As he did, Alice entered a noisy ice cream shop and ordered an ice cream sundae. While she was eating, she got a call from her perky agent.

"Alice darling! Guess what?"

"What?"

"No, guess!" her agent insisted.

"... there's been an explosion of cupcakes on the highway?"

"Aha. Funny. No, you know the biggest director in town? Yeah, well, he just asked you to be in his movie! Isn't that fantastic?"

"Which one is the biggest director?" she curiously asked.

Silence was at the other end of the phone. Alice stared at her cell, waiting for a response. Finally, she heard a sigh.

"Dear, you really need to do your research."

Alice grimaced. "I know, I promise I will, just tell me what this role is about."

"I would, doll, but that's all he said," Alice heard some papers shuffling on the agent's side. With an "Ah ha!" she returned back to the phone.

"Actually, it's funny. He didn't even give me any details about the role. All he said was that you would be perfect for the part."

"Oh... well, when can I find out?"

"I think he would tell you _if _you took the part."

"So I can't know about the part?"

"Absolutely!"

"Fantastic."

Staring at the giant scoop of ice cream on her spoon, Alice pondered her decision. On one hand, she can work with another great director in town, and it would keep her busy, or she can blindly take it and find out it would lead to the end of the career.

_Wait a second... both options make me take it anyway. So what if I didn't take it?_

She could turn down this offer and have it not cause the potential ruin of her just-starting career.

_Hm..._

Absentmindedly, she ate the whole scoop and immediately her brain froze up, causing her to drop her spoon.

At the same time, her agent asked her, "So, do you want to take it?"

All Alice could do was mumble and fan herself, as if that would do anything. The agent took her murmur as an affirmation.

"Oh and darling, I heard he's gathering up some of the best actors in the business, so you better be on your best behavior!" She babbled about a few more things and hung up, saying she would call the director back as soon as possible.

The brain freeze went away, but Alice's eyes were still watering from the cold pain in her mouth.

_What am I getting myself into?_

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><p><strong>There's so much that can happen in Hollywood, especially in this twisted version. <strong>**XD Of course I'm writing this as I'm supposed to be studying for exams. Oops.**

**I've already made up the backgrounds of all the HnKnA characters, but I'm still debating about certain characters. So shoot me a PM or review if you have any suggestions for anyone!**


	2. Rumored To Be With Lions & Tigers !

**Chapter 2: Rumored To Be With Lions & Tigers &-!**

"Why didn't you tell me that the meeting was today?" Alice said, frantically searching through her closet for something to wear. She had fallen asleep very late the night before, trying to research about the director. Which was largely unsuccessful, due to her agent not even giving Alice his or her name. _Of course all I know is that the director is the biggest one in town, but that's absolutely nothing! _Alice had tried calling her agent back, but each time she would receive a busy signal. The newcomer in the movie industry was determined to figure out which director it was and attempted to research online.

In the late morning, she woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing, on her desk, next to her head. Once she heard her agent sheepishly tell her that everyone was going to be meeting at the corporate office in an hour, Alice had been a blur in her apartment.

"Sorry doll, I forgot! I was so excited for you that I... ha... forgot to mention that." Her agent continued to apologize.

"It's fine... I guess. I'm just surprised that we're meeting so early! I just said yes to the deal too, but I didn't even audition! Is that alright?" she asked her agent.

"Oh yes, Alice, he said no need to audition. He didn't think it was necessary because he's seen your work already. Oh, how's your day?"

The blond was too busy to respond, having the phone on speaker, and was dressed and ready to go. Except for the fact that-

_*GRRROOOWWWWWWLLL*_

The phone paused for a moment.

"Was that a lion I heard?" her agent tentatively asked. "You're not in a forest, are you?"

Alice laughed hollowly, rubbing her stomach and ignoring her agent's lack of geography knowledge.

"What? Oh, that? It was nothing. Just, uh, moving some things around." _Oh no! I forgot to eat last night. _Glancing at the clock on the wall, Alice calculated if she had time to spare. _Shoot and I don't even have time to make anything to eat!_

"You said it was at noon, right?"

"Yeah, and you better hurry up, you don't want to keep them waiting! Gotta go, need to finish this portfolio for Clarina. Ta ta for now!" Her agent blew kisses into the phone and hung up, while Alice grabbed her phone from the counter, and dashed out the crystallized front door and into the elevator.

With her earnings from her first movie, Alice was able to afford a simple but a bit costly apartment, mainly because she was paying for her security at one of the best hotels in Hollywood. She would have rented a house, but she didn't like having a place that large to only house a single person. The emptiness seemed to echo with just one person, and it frightened her just a bit. And she wasn't about to hire a cook and a maid, like some celebrities did. She preferred to do her own housework, because she didn't like burdening others.

As she had her purse on her shoulder, and her cellphone in hand, she flagged down a taxi (she didn't have her own car) and asked the taxi driver to take her to the address that her agent gave her. Sighing with relief, Alice relaxed when the driver told her she'd be there in 5 minutes. Using her comb, she brushed out a few kinks in her hair before she stared out the window of the passing scenery.

The front doors of the building flung open into the lobby, revealing a blond whirl who flew into the elevator, but not before nodding to the doorman and the secretary at the front desk. Pushing the button for floor number 17, she dusted herself off, trying to straighten out her clothes from her run and took off the tag she had accidentally left on the shirt. Hoping that she made it on time, Alice checked the time on her cell.

_12:01 p.m._

The blond gave a sigh of both relief and frustration. _I really hope they aren't the type of people who care if you're just a couple minutes off. Then I'm already off with a bad impression! I don't want that! I really wish that my agent didn't forget to tell me that. I wonder if there was anything else she forgot to tell me?_

Lost in her thoughts, Alice jumped when the elevator binged, alerting her that she arrived at her destination. Taking a deep breath, the girl took a step forward when the elevator doors slid back.

Right as something red and blue rushed in front of her. Alice leaped outside of the elevator and flattened herself to the wall.

"Brother! Let's get these photos to the magazine before that stupid hare gets a hold of them! He'll just be ruining all our fun," said the boy in the blue outfit. Alice thought she heard a mischievous tone in his voice. Clenched to his chest, he held a black, shiny camera that he seemed to be protecting.

"Mhm, let's do that brother!" said the one in red, with a matching camera. With that, both escaped into the elevator and doors closed behind Alice. It wasn't another moment that she blinked until another person came running, yelling gibberish.

"Uh..." Alice stammered, utterly confused. She wasn't sure if she was to say anything, but the orange haired man turned his head.

"Those kids, where did you see them go?"

"I- they went there," Alice said, and pointed to the door. He nodded to thank her.

Then, he pounded the door, yelling "You brats! Wait 'til I get my hands on you!" He muttered under his breath, sounding something like, "I'll make sure you guys don't get your allowance for a week."

The ginger turned on his heel, and headed for the green door across the hall from the elevator, labeled "stairs."

As his purple scarf whipped out of sight, Alice rubbed her head.

_I did get the right level, I'm sure. So who were they? Those boys looked pretty young... oh, whatever. But it's odd... why would they be selling the photos of whatever they took? Are the paparazzi starting out that young? And that other guy... he's really tall. And a bit scary when mad._

_And their eyes..._ Alice thought there was something odd about them. Something... not normal. But what was it? Eyes aren't usually that strange to make her think about it. They are just eyes, nothing unusual.

The girl shook off any thoughts, wanting to relax and calm her beating heart, and continued on into the room. Alice thought that the decor was quite lovely, especially with all of the green clover symbols everywhere. _It must be the logo for the business, _she thought. _It's definitely unique._

She turned a corner and and accidentally bumped into somebody. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry! Please excuse me," she said, and looked up to see who she had walked into.

"Hm," the man said. Alice looked at the guy, examining his appearance. Long dark blue hair (_must be tinted,_ Alice thought), pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck and trickled down almost to his knees. Two strands of shoulder length hair framed his sapphire eyes, and a small clock earring was placed on one ear. Too busy looking at his clothes (black coat with gold trimmings, a gold shirt underneath, and black pants), Alice didn't notice that she was staring until the man cleared his throat.

"Do you need something?" He sternly asked. Startled, Alice blushed red and shook her head. But remembering that she needed to find where the meeting was, just to make sure, she was going to ask the man when her stomach interrupted her.

_*GROOOWWWWWLLLLL*_

Silence.

The stranger looked around, confusion appearing very lightly on his face, searching for the source of the sound. Finding none, he muttered, "Couldn't have been a tiger." The man gave her a curt nod, looked about and continued on his way, not noticing the red spreading across Alice's face once again.

_Waaa! How embarrassing! Thank goodness he didn't realize it was me. I'm practically starving... But I have to get to the meeting! I think I can go just for a bit longer..._ Alice was thinking when her stomach grumbled, protesting her action. _But I don't want to make a bad impression on the first day._

She sighed, deciding the first chance she gets to go and stalk the restaurant two buildings down. The blond examined her surroundings. She was in another hallway, but thankfully, these doors had signs of where they led to. Alice was absolutely relieved to find one of the doors labeled "Meeting Room". _Well, that's incredibly convenient. Lucky me. _

She grabbed the brass door knob and turned it. Pushing the door open, Alice was greeted with the strange sight that laid before her.

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><p><strong>Hope you can recognize who's who! The rest will be introduced next chapter.<strong>


	3. Beware The Monster

**Sheesh, I'm really awful at continuing things. Sorry it's been months, I've been caught up with one thing or another, and I found this chapter collecting dust. It's been added to numerous times for about a month, so here's the update! Also, if everything goes right, I have a side project that I had to redo recently for this story. I hope I can post it in the next 2-3 chapters! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Beware The Monster<strong>

Before Alice's eyes was a group of people, all scattered throughout the room. Some were sitting in the chairs surrounding the large, mahogany table, while others were by the walls, chatting or gesturing wildly. The room itself was quite large, and Alice figured that the company wanted to impress visitors, for the decor was quite luxurious, from the expensive couches underneath the windows to the lavish decorations mounted onto the wall. The deep, emerald green seemed to be the main color in the room, incorporated into the clovers, with white and cream accents, along with other variations of the green.

Alice stood at the doorway, uncertain of what to do. She was relieved that the meeting wasn't in progress, but she wasn't sure on how to introduce herself. With her proper upbringing, the girl knew what to do in most social situations, but when she was somewhere she didn't know anyone, she wasn't sure how to make herself fit in. Especially when she needed to make the right first impression on her fellow actors.

_Okay, Alice, you can do this. Just introduce yourself to someone... maybe that guy right there, he doesn't look like he's too busy... oh wait now he's taking out a violin and putting rosin on the bow._

The blond thought for a moment. Was she supposed to have brought an musical instrument? Alice took a glance around the room; no one else had a case that indicated otherwise. She shrugged and took a step towards the him. _His suit is a bit bright though. Must be eccentric, but maybe that means he won't mind talking to me? _she thought with a bit of hope. Then she wouldn't be so self conscious. _Oh, but_ _a red head in some kind of uniform is talking to him... more like yelling... _She winced as a flurry of curse words burst out of the man's mouth. _Um. Maybe arguing? _Alice shook her head; that wouldn't be a good idea to approach the man in an 'heated discussion.'

_Okay, who else is there? Oh, that person of there looks a little lonely... or is it nervousness? Oh thank goodness, maybe he's a newcomer too! _She was quite relieved. She paused for a moment, and chided herself. _I shouldn't be so happy about that. Oh that poor thing, he's actually shaking! He looks around my age though..._

As she slowly walked towards him along the side of the room, she took a quick look at everyone else in the room. There was a group of people in red chatting by the large window facing the street. Alice observed the two who were facing her; one was a beautiful woman with rich, plum-colored hair that flowed down to her waist while the other was a man, probably early twenties, with brown hair and had large grin plastered across his face. The one facing the other two had white hair, which was all she could tell.

Finally, Alice reached the boy sitting on the small sofa. "Um, hi. Is it alright for me to sit here? Trembling, the boy nodded with his emerald eyes. The teen had a red/orange hair color, with a thin streak of blond going down one side of his hair. Glancing down at his attire, Alice assumed that he had money, for the green coat was from a well known, expensive designer brand. When she sat down, Alice let her eyes wander about the room.

Across the room, sitting in a velvet chair, was another red-headed man.

_Wait a second... wasn't he over there just a second ago? _Alarmed, the girl hoped she wasn't losing her sanity within reach of a new job. With a glance back, she saw the two men still at it, with the man with the braid attempting to keep the violin out of reach of the other. She reassured herself that those two were just twins. Except the one in the chair was more calm but a bit daunting, with a smile playing on his lips, his eyes passing over her.

She shivered, and turned towards her companion who was staring at her, wanting to break the silence. "So... um. You're here for the movie, right? I'm Alice Lidell," she said with a kind smile. The boy slowly became relaxed and gave her a timid smile back.

"H-hi Alice, I'm Pierce Villiers. Um, you haven't seen the monster around, have you?" he said with a squeak. _Monster? What is he talking about? _Alice thought, but she shook her head. "No, I haven't seen a- a monster... Actually, what does it look like?"

Pierce looked around, and he leaned closer and started to whisper. Alice had to concentrate hard on listening. "Well, he's really scary. And intimidating. He's always looking for me, and-" he gulped, "he wants to have me for dinner!"

Blankly, Alice stared at Pierce. She couldn't tell if he was mentally insane or serious. _What kind of person believe in monsters at this age? He has to have something wrong with him. But who would hire someone like this if he was mentally ill? Hm... wait a second. He's an actor, right? Well, he's an awfully good one then!_ The blond girl focused on the boy. _But why would he choose to be afraid of a monster?_

While she was wondering about the boy's mind, said boy was staring at Alice. Without any warning, he launched himself onto Alice.

"Eh? Hey, get off! What are you trying to do?" she half-yelled, trying not to attract any attention. Luckily for her, everyone in the room was occupied with something else.

"I wanted to hug you," Pierce said innocently. Alice froze. _Yup, something is definitely wrong with him._ She pushed him back to his seat.

"That's great... Considering that I've just met you. Please don't do that again," she told him. Sadly, the ginger looked down into his laps, fidgeting. "Sorry," he mumbled. Alice softened, feeling slightly bad.

"It's okay. We're just strangers, so... let's get to know each other?" the blond asked the other. Pierce looked up and nodded. "Okay."

_What am I doing? _Alice thought, trying to think of something to say. Feeling the pressure to say something, she said the first question that came to her mind.

"Um, what's your favorite food?" she asked lamely. To her surprise, Pierce perked up. She could have sworn that his smile shined brighter than the lights in the room.

"CHEESE!" he happily said. And from there, Pierce rambled on and on about his favorite types of cheese, where to get them, what they taste like, and so on.

She leaned back in the couch, listening to Pierce. Alice was relieved that he was talking so freely about something he liked, even if it was kind of strange. It was hard for her to keep her eyes open (since it was kind of a boring subject), so she just let his words wash over her. However, she didn't notice the large shadow creeping over her shoulder.

"Oh, and the Gouda and Brie ones are- ar-ahhhh..."

Finding it odd that he would go silent, Alice glanced at his face. With a realization that he wasn't looking at her, she followed the line of his gaze, which was right over her shoulder...

In the dimly lit corner, all Alice could see were golden eyes and a set of white, shiny, pointed teeth.

"Hyeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" Alice screamed, clinging onto Pierce for dear life, as he was scrambling to get away from the monster and at the same time yelling, "Get away from Alice you stupid monster!" He threw his black hat at it, when both he and Alice felt themselves slipping from the couch and tumbled to the ground with a thud.

Untangling herself from Pierce, Alice heard a laugh and looked up to where the sound was coming from. Standing in front of her was a teen, decked out in all punk gear, piercings and chains decorating his body, his body bent over and his hands on his knees, keeping his balance since he was laughing so hard. She couldn't see his eyes, for his hot pink bangs covered his faced. The other boy noticed her and stretched at his hand to help her up. Alice waved his hand aside and got to her feet herself, brushing off any dust on her clothes. When she looked up, she was surprised that no one had even taken noticed of the incident taking place.

_Is this sort of thing normal to them? _she wondered. Everyone back home would be sticking their nose into everyone else's business, which she found quite frustrating.

The boy steadied himself, trying to to control his laughter, and said to the girl, "Sorry about that. I didn't think you would be that scared."

Alice frowned, her brows turning into a v-shape. "Hmph, I wasn't scared."

The punk-looking kid raised his eyebrows, holding back a laugh, and said, "I'm sure you weren't." With that, Pierce, cowering in the corner, let out a small squeak. Golden eyes shifted from the blond girl, and landed on the smaller mousy boy. Pierce jumped up and made a mad dash to the opening door, colliding with a man dragging along another who was complaining about something.

"So, you're the Alice girl, huh?"said the punk teen, paying attention to the girl again. His eyes twinkled as he looked at the newcomer.

The blond nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's me. How did you know?"

"Well, the director mentioned that we were getting a new actress, and since I know everyone here, you must be Alice," he said with a smile. He stuck out his hand again. "I'm Boris Airay."

The girl took his hand and shook it, feeling the gold rings he wore and, remembering her manners, said "Nice to meet you, Boris."

"Everyone, please take a seat," a baritone voice said, coming from the man who had bumped into Pierce earlier. Another man, with an eyepatch, stood next to him, crossing his arms and pouting. He was murmuring something to the other, but since Alice and Boris were on the opposite side of the room, they couldn't hear. Boris turned to Alice and tossed her a smile.

"Want to sit with me?" he asked the girl. She hesitated for a second, but realizing she didn't know anyone else (besides Pierce, who was now nervously throwing looks at Boris from across the room), she accepted his offer and took the seat he had pulled out next to him.

They chatted as everyone else took their seat, and several others filed into the room. Alice recognized the indifferent man who heard her stomach growl, the two boys from earlier, now camera-less, and the orange-blond man who towered over the man to the side of him. She couldn't see the other man very clearly, but she thought it was very similar to someone she knew.

_How peculiar..._

A throat cleared at the head of the table, and everyone's murmurs gradually fell silent.

"Let the meeting for the new film begin."

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><p><strong>Okay, I love Pierce, so I felt bad with him getting scared by Boris. I would write more, but I don't know a lot about him, mostly because I haven't played his route. But I hope I'm 'somewhat' making sure the characters aren't OOC.<strong>


	4. The Plot Is?

**I'd like to take this moment to thank the people who invented smartphones because I wrote most of this chapter on my phone. Also, this chapter sucks imo. Mostly an introduction.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: The Plot is What?<strong>

As she sat down in the seat Boris had offered her, the others in the room began to sit down at the large round table in the center of the room. Pierce sat on the other side of Alice, cautiously throwing glances at Boris, but gradually calmed down. The last two people to take their seats were the man with a lizard tattoo on his neck who seemed to hold authority over the one with the silver hair and an eye-patch over his right eye. _What is it with this place and eye-patches?  
><em>

"So, as you all know," the silver haired man with the eye patch began, "that you're all here because of one thing, and one thing only." He grinned proudly. "And that is my debut film, which you are all going to be participating him!" He rose up from the chair and slapped both his hands down on the conference table. Bewildered, Alice looked around for confirmation. _What, this man is the director? _She stared disbelievingly at him.

The man with the lizard tattoo noticed Alice's confused expression and whispered to Nightmare. "Wha-? Oh yes, of course, introductions. Although we don't really need them Gray..." The director trailed off and followed the other's line of sight, leading to Alice. "Hm, that's right. Introductions it is! I'll start with myself, because I'm the great director Nightmare Gottschalk!" A murmur of voices arose, which Nightmare seemed to ignore.

"Great, yeah right." Boris muttered, leaning back in his chair. Glancing at Nightmare Gottschalk (_what kind of name is that?, _she wondered_), _Alice whispered to the boy, "What exactly is so great about him if he's never directed a movie before?"

Boris whispered back, "Well, he's pretty decent actor, but he's also the head of a pretty big agency, Clover Tower."

_So, a triple threat then? _Still puzzled, she asked Boris why her agent called him the biggest director in town. Shrugging, he replied, "It's probably because Nightmare is successful. Although a lot of it is due to Gray making him do work."

_Who's Gray?_

A fit of coughing interrupted their conversation, and as Alice looked over, she spotted Nightmare coughing up blood into his handkerchief.

"A-are you ok?!" Nightmare waved her off, with Lizard Tattoo Man hovering over him. "Gray, it's your turn," he said in between coughing.

"A-alright." The man called Gray stood up and introduced himself to the room. "As most of you know, I am Gray Ringmarc. Nice to meet you."

Embarrassed, Alice got the feeling that the introductions were for her sake, as most of the others knew about each other already. She's never seen any of these people, for she wasn't much of a movie person. She was usually too busy at her job or going out with friends to really go out to see movies. If she did, they were mostly classics that none of these people would be in.

"Gray's known mostly for the assassin trilogy that finished up last year, and somehow ended up at Nightmare's agency. Seems like he helps out more than Nightmare," Boris let her know.

Next to stand was the man she bumped into earlier, who introduced himself as Julius Monrey.

"Really great actor, but he doesn't come out much. He's pretty much forced to go to his own premieres. His family also owns several different clock stores and for some reason a couple of mortuaries. He's with Clover Tower too."

Vivaldi Queen was the only other female in the cast, clothed in lavish brands. She stood with authority that even Alice could tell._  
><em>

"Vivaldi is pretty much the highest actress in industry, she plays a queen in film a lot, but she's got a really hot temper. She rules the Castle of Hearts Agency."

A man with fluffy white hair stood up and introduced himself. "My name is Peter White and I just want to say that, Alice, I love you!" he exclaimed giddily.

Surprised, Alice could only look at him amazement but remembered her manners. "Th-thank you." _I guess he's a fan? How funny, an actor that likes me... rather too enthusiastically._

Vivaldi muttered some things under her breath that ultimately lead to Peter sitting back down (with some help from the next person who was laughing all the while).

"Wow, guess he really does love you," Boris remarked. Alice glanced questioningly at the teen. "Usually he's pretty cold. Really good actor, he's been in the spotlight for a while but he's never acted like that before."

Alice nervously brushed down her clothes. "He probably just really loves the character I played," she whispered back.

The next brunette introduced himself as Ace Knight.

"He used to be in television but got into film a few years ago. This guy is pretty popular but he gets into a lot of trouble. Partying wise. Hey Alice, wanna go out to some clubs later?" The rebellious looking teen looked at her hopefully.

"Nn, how about after filming's done?"

Who knows what would happen if Alice got drunk? Stories like that along with photographic evidence would surely kill her barely started career.

Following Ace was a man-

_It can't be! _

_"_I'm Blood Dupre. Nice to meet you all," he said, with his eyes lingering on Alice, who could only stare back.

_B-but he looks exactly like-_

_"_Blood is the head of the Hatter Agency. Their most prized actor. He's pretty famous around the world but some people say there some shady dealings behind the scenes with him."

_Aha. I see. So it's not him. That's... a relief. So a relative?  
><em>

The orange haired guy from the elevator introduced himself as Elliot March.

"Elliot is Blood's second in command. He's pretty known for his action comedy movies."

Next up were the young twins from earlier.

"I'm Tweedle Dee," said the one in blue said. "And I'm Tweedle Dum" said the other in red.

"They go by just Dee and Dum though. And they're inseparable, they always film together. They tend to do TV shows. They also tend to 'leak' unwanted photos." Boris added, "And they're my friends."

Right after Dee and Dum was the man with violin, who looked to be the oldest out of all of them, with his stubble and glasses and braid. He introduced himself as simply Gowland.

Someone chuckled.

"What's that, _Mary_? You're just Gowland? Why, you sound like some kind of popstar, _Mary. _Although it would suit you just as well, _Mary_," Blood said, calmly sipping his tea. During this, Gowland's knuckles on the violin he was gripping tightly grew whiter and whiter until he snapped.

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL THAT IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT FOR LETTING THE WHOLE CITY KNOW!"

Blood shrugged nonchalantly. "Ah, not just the city. More like the world."

"Why you-!"

It took about five minutes to calm Gowland down, which he seemed to forget entirely. _And Blood... seems to be just asking for it._

"Tch. That old man... listen, whatever you do, don't ever stay near him when he's about to play something."

"What? And about-?"

"Trust me, if you see him about to play, just run in the opposite direction. And Mary is his first name, yeah. He's been in tons of Western movies." He answered my question, and stood up right after.

"I'm Boris Airay. Nice ta meet you all." He sat back in his chair and smirked at the blonde. "Popular actor, very much wanted by the girls. Mostly box office teen movies but I'm expanding my world."

_I see you're not conceited at all, _Alice thought sarcastically. Everything was silent for a moment until Alice remembered she was next. Blushing, she jumped up and smiled around the room. "Hello, I'm Alice Liddell. Nice to meet you." The blonde sat back down.

"This girl's just made her first ever appearance in any sort of media and everyone's talking about her," Boris said slyly. Still flushed, Alice looked to Pierce, who was next.

"That guy's a real pain. He's played other teen movies after he left television. Oh, both him and I are under Gowland's Amusement Park Agency."

Then came the two red heads who introduced themselves as Black Joker and White Joker. They were almost identical, if it weren't for the military-like clothes Black wore, and the jester-like outfit White wore.

"Those guys are kind of a mystery. They came out of nowhere a couple of years ago and they have their own agency called the Circus. The Jokers've made a pretty good name for themselves."

Alice looked around the room again. _So these are the people I'm going to be working with? _Already she was feeling nervous about how she would fit in with the cast with their colorful personalities.

"Ah, welcome everyone!" Nightmare began again. "Nice to see some old and new faces here. I hope that we all get along," he glanced nervously back and forth at Blood and Gowland. "We're going to have to be on our best behavior during filming. I don't really want any bad press talking bad about the actors, but only you guys will decide that."

"Hey, will you just tell us what the movie is about?" Ace cut in. "All any of us know that we're going to be acting in it."

At this, Nightmare turned even paler than his naturally pale complexion. "Ah, yes, the synopsis. Well, that's a funny thing about that because..."

Gray sighed. "Just tell them, Mr. Nightmare."

Everyone straightened up, having a bad feeling about it.

He fidgeted in his seat. "The thing is... I don't have a plot."


End file.
